Introducing others to horse racing

Wed, 01/16/2013 - 9:19amMichael Boylan

Starting in March, a 45 foot RV bus will begin traveling to the biggest horse races in the country and Victoria Garofalo, a recent graduate of Georgia College and a graduate from McIntosh High School in 2008, will be one of the ambassadors on board.

“We’ll start at GulfStream outside of Miami and go to all of the other races leading up to the Kentucky Derby,” Garofalo said. “We’ll be at all of the other races in the Triple Crown and follow the road to the Breeder’s Cup. We’ll be on the road at least four days every week from March to November.”

It will be a lot of travel for Garofalo and the other members of America’s Best Racing but they are excited to begin and help introduce thousands of people to a sport they may not be familiar with.

“We’ll be building a multimedia platform with a goal of increasing the profile of the sport. We want to highlight the competition but also everything that surrounds it,” Garofalo added.

Originally from upstate New York, Garofalo was introduced to horse racing at a young age. Her family would visit farms and attend races and there were several family members that were associated with the sport throughout the years.

“One of my favorite places in the world is Saratoga in New York,” Garofalo said. “We would go there every summer. I always knew I wanted a job in horse racing but never knew what angle. I feel like this job was written for me.”

Garofalo had done a lot with video production and social media while in college and, as her December graduation date neared, she was applying for numerous jobs in that field. One evening she saw a link for the New York Racing Association and that led her to the job posting for America’s Best Racing. She sent in a resume, cover letter and a video explaining why she felt like she was a fit for the job. The day before walking at graduation she got the job offer and recently moved to Lexington, Kentucky to start work.
“Right now, we’ve been going to a lot of farms and meeting horses and people in the industry,” Garofalo said. “They are teaching us everything they know so that we can answer all sorts of questions once the tour begins.”

The tour bus, the ABRV, will have interactive games, photo opportunities and much more, including an editing suite and wi-fi on board for Garofalo and the other ambassadors to create videos and spread the word about horse racing.

“It’s important for us to introduce the sport to a younger audience so that it can thrive,” Garofalo said. “It’s not just going to a track and betting on a horse you know nothing about. There is really something for everyone, all ages and all incomes. It’s very inexpensive to go to a race. Some tracks actually have free admission and are great places to go for family outings. The ambassadors will also teach fans about the history of the sport and how to bet on a race.

The group is heading to Miami this week for the Eclipse Awards, which Garofalo explained was like the Academy Awards for horse racing. They will then continue to get ready for the start of the 2013 season.